2010-08-21: HIVE Hijackers
Category: Logs Summary: Wonder Woman is training Wonder Girl when an alert is sounded. The Justice League cannot respond, so Diana has Cassie enlist Titans Nightwing and Starfire to help. Location: non-specific New York City region Participants: Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, Nightwing, Starfire Rating: PG-13 =Character Descriptions= Wonder Woman A tall, bold figure of a woman with captivating beauty juxtaposed seamlessly with noticeably firm athleticism and vibrant vigor, she stands easily six feet tall or a little more with a broad-shouldered hourglass figure. Her skin is a sun-burnished bronze over a natural olive tone, which combines with her mid-back length cascade of an ebon mane to affirm the Mediterranean heritage. Her eyes are a deep cerulean blue, combining with long dark lashes, high strong cheekbones, a firm but feminine jaw, a long tapered nose and full lips to present a classic portrayal of the feminine mystique which could well overshadow even supermodels. She moves with grace and poise that bespeaks the regal and an economy of motion that alludes further to athleticism and martial prowess. Her voice is a rich mezzo-soprano, tinged with a curious accent that seems almost to be from all lands at once, without ever obscuring the clarity of her speech. Her attire is as bold as the woman herself, without ever becoming slinky, risque or tawdry. A crimson bustier covers her midsection and chest, with a golden 'W'-shaped plate over the upper swell of her chest, echoing the broad golden belt emphasizing the smallness of her waist at the center of her hourglass shape, while leaving her arms, shoulders and upper back bare, revealing unmarred golden bronzed skin without decoration or self-consciousness. Midnight blue trunks descend from beneath the belt to gird her hips and loins, spangled with small white five-pointed stars, leaving her firm golden thighs bare as well. Crimson leather boots with a white central stripe from toe up each shin and spreading around at each knee cover calf and feet. A softly glowing golden coil of chain-link-like rope hangs from the right side of the wide belt. A small red five-pointed star dangles from each ear, echoing the larger red star enamelled on the wide central rise of a broad golden metallic single-band tiara crowning her head and holding back some of the ebon mass of her hair from her face. Wonder Girl Perhaps this girl could be the poster-child for the 'girl next door', if there was such a thing. Her frame is a diminuitive 5'5" tall, and set in the mold of one who is clearly physically active, trim, and fit; slender, sleek, and blessed with a firm body. The girls face is framed by waves of bright golden hair that hangs just past shoulder-length and the tight skin and gentle hue of her tanned tone belies both the beauty and the youthfulness of the young girl. Bright blue eyes, expressive, compliment the small nose, and the expressive mouth that's often painted bright red. She wears a sleeveless dark red shirt that begins at the neckline and ends just past modest curves of breasts, exposing her taut midriff. The shirt itself is emblazened with two "winged W's" whose expressive tails cross over her breasts, and symbolize the Wonder Woman trademark sigil. Additionally, another trademark of the infamous Amazon emblazens itself upon the young teenager; a pair of bright silver bracelets no longer than three inches long on either wrist each festooned with a brilliant red star as the centerpiece. A black leather belt is hitched comfortably and snugly about her trimmed waistline, holding up a pair of similarily colored dark red pants. Attached to the belt is a golden lasso upon the side of her outfit where it can easily be reached. Black calf-high boots complete the outfit. Nightwing The vigilante called Nightwing cuts a rather dashing figure. His thick, short dark hair is plainly visible, though his youthful, unlined face is somewhat obscured by the stylized domino mask he wears over his eyes, obscuring them from view with the small lenses contained within the mask. He has a lean, well-muscled build, much like an Olympic gymnast and moves with athletic grace and vitality. His manner is confident and assured, and if nothing else he gives off the impression that he can take care of himself. Nightwing's costume is essentially a skin-tight black bodysuit that stretches from neck to toes. The only swath of color comes in light blue striping the runs along the outside of his arms, across his shoulders, and dips down into a shallow "V" shape over his sternum in front, and between his shoulder blades in the back. A closer look reveals that a series of small pouches seem to be built into the suit, wrapping around both calves and both forearms. Otherwise, the only thing that disturbs the sleek lines of the costume are occasionally a pair of escrima sticks strapped to his back. Starfire In human terms, this woman would appear to be in her mid to late twenties. Tall and statuesque, (not to mention orange,) Kory stands at about six and a half feet high, possessing burgundy hair that can only be described as 'poofy', adding about another inch or so to her height. The hair dangles down to her knees, wavy and neat as if she had had a perm every day of her life. Her form carries a supple femininity to it, the woman carrying herself with a confidence that suggests strength of either body or heart. Her uniform, which tends to be her usual choice of clothing, is skimpy at best. Purple boots that go up to her midthighs is probably the most modest of her attire. About her hips, a legless pair of similarly purple shorts about her midsection. A collar of sorts hangs loosely about her neck, and connected to her bottoms and that collar is a pair of purple straps that cling to her body, somehow preventing the 'worst' of her nudity from offending people. How those straps stay stuck to her must be some secret of alien technology. About her forearms are a pair of bracers, a red jewel set in each one, above the wrist. =Begin Scene= Military convoys are not exactly easy or light targets. They know not to stop for anything, and they are generally well-armed, well trained, and determined to protect whatever it is they are carrying. So when someone or something manages to disrupt a military convoy, the brass doesn't mess around. But with many in the Justice League busy with another mission, they don't have the resources to answer this call. Across New York, in a large open part, a tall raven-haired woman in a rather distinctive and instantly-recognizable outfit is currently engaged in martial training with a shorter, younger blonde woman who is - in her own way - no less distinctive. "Alright, Cassie. This time, I want you to respond to the threat, realizing you need to subdue the attacker without doing harm, because she is an ally. Ready?" But before Diana can initiate the training scenario, an alert sounds in her ear. One hand raises to that ear as the other holds up a palm outward towards Cassie, letting her blonde companion know she's not ready at the moment. "Yes? This is Wonder Woman ..." Diana listens, and then shakes her head momentarily. "I am sorry, General. The League's resources are largely dedicated to the incident in the Indian Ocean at the moment." Then she glances towards Cassie, and its clear she has made up her mind. "Summon the Titans, General. Wonder Girl and I are on the way." She glances to Cassie, and smiles. "Looks like training is over for today. I'll explain while we fly." And off they go. Elsewhere, Titan communicators start beeping. The alert has gone out. As Cassie moves to initiate and follow through with the - well, what she at least believes will be a pretty easy training session due to her extensive dedication and desire to be the best she can be, not only with Diana and Artemis training her, but Nightwing pushing her as well -- she overhears the conversation. Then, nods. She grins, briefly, then pushes off into the sky to follow her beloved mentor. "So, what's the story?" She taps her comm on to the other Titans, noting through it, "Wonder Woman and I are on our way." The beeping of a communicator had interrupted a conversation all the way in New York, launching a certain orange-skinned woman into action. There was danger afoot. "This is Starfire - I am on my way!" reverberates through the communicators, a streak of green light launching through an open window at the Tower. It doesn't take too long for Kori to catch sight of the two Amazons. Dressed in her uniform, with purple gemstones on the gauntlets flickering in the light, she raises a hand in silent greeting to the still-slightly-afar-off women. Nightwing doesn't have quite the resources and deep well of gadgetry that his mentor does, but his association with the Titans does give him access to some things that he might not otherwise have on-hand. Case in-point, this combination jetpack/glider contraption that the Titans keep on-hand for their non-flying members for occasions just like this. Oh sure, he could've just had Kory carry him, but it works out better tactically for her to be on her own. He pipes into the headset communicator he's wearing, "Nightwing here. I've got eyes on the convoy." He comments, squinting at the activity below, before shifting his conveyance into a dive towards it, hoping to get a closer look. "The General says a military convoy has been hijacked on its way from the harbor onto the interstate interchange heading south on I-95. He would not give specifics on the contents of the convoy, but anyone able to accomplish something like this would not do so lightly." Diana offers to her protege, sharing what information she has. Catching sight of Koriand'r's slightly glowing form and the wave, Diana returns it as the three close in on one another, forming up as they approach the location ahead. She communicates with Nightwing as he dives towards the situation. "Let us know what you can see, Nightwing." she offers, clearly intending to use all the intel they can get to decide on a tactical approach. What lies ahead is definitely a mess. A small overpass has been exploded, cutting off one 'leaf' of a cloverleaf exit, preventing the convoy from continuing on to another highway. Several large, golden-toned and black vehicles have pulled up behind the convoy, and shots have clearly been exchanged. Several of the military personnel are down, and others are continuing to return fire from limited cover. Most problematic, however, is that on the service road beneath that ramp is a crane and a flatbed truck, along with another convoy of those black and gold vehicles. The crane is being brought into position and lowering to snatch up the military convoy truck that is the heart of the contest of firepower going on. "Got that?" Asks Wonder Girl, as she presses the comm, so the others can hear the background. As she spots Starfire and Nightwing in the distance, she points to the crane, "Starfire, lay down some cover fire. Divert their attention towards us, and away from those men. Diana and I will take care of that crane." She figures Nightwing will know where Nightwing should be, and tucks in to head straight for the center of the problems - stubborn girl. But, when has she not ever been ready to plunge into the middle of a fight? There was a faint bit of bemusement in Starfire's features as the orders crackle over the communicator towards her, Kory taking a moment to glance over towards where Dick was gliding towards the scene. To the distance, Starfire appeared as just a green corona, and that corona dips down towards the convoy. Which likely alarms the men something fierce. Regardless, it wasn't too long before bolts of bright green start to lance out from Kory, the alien woman tossing handful after handful of green energy blindly down the golden-toned vehicles. Specifically, the ones near the convoy proper. "These guys look kinda familiar." Nightwing notes with no small amount of exasperation in his tone after describing the basic situation to those on the comm. "Plenty of bad guys to go around." His glider continues its' rapid descent, almost looking as though it's aiming for a crash landing, but Nightwing pulls up at the last minute, slowing his speed just enough to allow him to safely detach himself from the vehicle, dropping to the ground and into a roll, coming to his feet with escrima sticks in hand, and just a few meters away from the rear flank of the HIVE goons attacking the convoy directly. Thanks for the distractions, ladies! He wastes no time lashing out to start trying to bring them down, hoping between Kory's strafing and his surprise attack they'll be too mixed-up to mount any sort of coherent counterattack. Diana looks and listens as her protege hands out assignments, proving her increasing ability to assess a tactical situation, the talents of those resources she has available, and then tailor a tactical response accordingly. "Well done." she offers, approvingly, even as she follows Wonder Girl into a dive, heading for the HIVE convoy and the crane below. "Bracers to the ready." she advises, as they close. With Starfire streaking in and opening fire, the HIVE operatives have to split their fire and attention, nearly half of them opening fire on the incoming alien. The blasts are not the most accurate in the world, but they are not hopelessly wild, and they pack a serious punch. Relieved of the need to duck quite so much, the remaining military personnel regroup, drag their wounded companions to better cover, and make a concerted effort to help the inbound heroes by keeping up their end of the bargain, while making a point of avoiding hitting their allies as best they can. Most of the HIVE goons miss the arrival of the powerful jetpack glider and its occupant, but two of those near Nightwing's landing point do turn, one trying to swipe at the hero with the butt stock of his rifle, while the other takes a step back and tries to bring his weapon to bear. The crane moves in closer, braces lowering on the massive vehicle as it prepares to do the job for which it was brought along. The HIVE goons open fire on the incoming Amazons, trying to hold them off and keep them busy while the heist goes off, so it is a hail of fire from more than a dozen shooters, which will try the talents of both Amazons with their bracers. Wonder Girl is forced to pause in mid-air, to begin reflecting back - or about, the bullet-spray that comes her way. Luckily, she had good teachers, and her father bestowed upon her superior reflexes. Still, it's a bit difficult to advance for her at the time, "Starfire," she calls, "Want to give these guys something else to think about?" Koriand'r was flying in a bit brazenly - she was expecting small arms fire, which did very little to Tamaranean skin. Lazer blasts were a whole other matter entirely. As Kory starts to draw her blasts more accurately, and closer to the vehicles - her intent was to start herding them over to where Nightwing was, so that the expert martial artist can do his thing with them. A blast to her torso changes her plans in a hurry. Having only got a few shots off, the Tamaranean calls out with the blow, the green corona about her fading as she starts to fall earthward. She manages to correct herself about twenty feet above the ground, blinking the stars out of her eyes. Bringing up a hand to touch the communicator, the woman dodges to one side to avoid another blast, responding, "I think that may be wise, Cassie! What do you have in mind?" Nightwing sidesteps, the butt end of that rifle narrowly missing him as he brings a hand up to smack it's wielder in the face, "You're gonna have to move your butt a little faster if you're gonna catch me." He quips, using the momentary stun of his strike to leap up and over the attacker, looping an arm under his shoulder and turning it into an aerial flip-toss that sends him right towards that fellow that was levelling his rifle at him, hopefully killing two birds (or is it bees?) with one stone. Almost casually, a few flash-bangs are hurled into the ranks of the other HIVE soldiers, the better to keep them off-balance as he moves in to attack the "herded" thugs. Wonder Woman does not relent under the hail of blaster fire from the HIVE goons below, but instead crosses her bracers, a small glowing shield of energy forming where they touch, and arrows her body behind it as she flies on. The Aegis phantasm won't last long, but it should last long enough for her to reach the crane. Or so she hopes. "Whatever you're thinking, Cassie, you'd best do it quickly, or we need to change tactics and cover Starfire. It might be worth attacking their vehicles." she offers advisedly to Wonder Girl, as she hurtles into the midst of the firefight. The energy weapon blasts are a danger, but thankfully Starfire is anything but fragile, so she should be fine, if startled, winded and a tad out of position at the moment. Her renewed attacks take out two of the HIVE troopers who had concentrated on her position, and another that was still returning fire on the military personnel under cover. Nightwing's quick actions are just enough to avoid the shot that instead strikes his tossed HIVE goon in the back as he hurtles into his ally, the two collapsing into a tangled pile of limbs. The flashbangs detonate to some effect, but the helmets of the HIVE troopers clearly deaden their effects, just as would the gear of field military personnel. The crane's braces dig into the asphalt and concrete, as the massive arm raises into position and the booms lower, ready to snare the truck. "Got it," says Wonder Girl, who, with the support of Diana and the distractions that the other cause, tells Starfire, "Throw a few starbolts of yours at those vehicles they're taking cover in, Starfire, then get out of range. Nightwing, keep an eye out and stay clear. Incoming." She crosses her own bracers and barrels down towards the crane -- then levels off, shifting her position to unhook her lasso, she moves to pitch the loop around the arm of hte crane itself, even as she continues to fly past it. Then, using leverage and her position in the air, she pulls. Hard. And with the strength of a DemiGoddess, to uproot the crane, and topple it completely, using the fulcrum and leverage in unison with her strength, and lasso. On the surface, Kory looked absolutely fine. Kory, however, felt like she had been burnt, and the burning reached deep within herself where the laser beam had struck. For the most part, she was just fine - it would hamper her as much as a serious bruise might a human being. A quick tap to her communicator, "I am fine," she says, somewhat tersely. Only because she was concentrating on the fight now, her eyes narrowed upon the convoy of vehicles. Swooping around another bolt aimed at her, she fires another few rounds of starbolts, directly at the vehicles. However, she does not get out of range. Instead, she starts flying at half her top speed, in a lazy circle around the vehicles. As she does so, she brings up a hand to touch her communicator again, "How are you doing, D... Nightwing?" "Well, on the plus side I've got no shortage of partners on my dance card." Nightwing comments, leaping, rolling, and flipping around and amidst the goons, keeping himself an unpredictable moving target, all the while lashing out with his feet or those escrima sticks to make his strikes when he can. "On the downside, these guys look like they started shopping at the higher end of the black market since we saw them last." Wonder Woman cannot help a smile of pride as she sees Wonder Girl do just exactly what she herself was going to do to that crane, and do it so well. The Amazon princess flies up and deflects the blasts aimed in Cassie's direction, keeping the HIVE goons off of her so that she can get finished her devastation of their crane and a major part of their objective. Her only advice right now is simply, "Do not forget there is a man inside that vehicle." Heroes do not kill if there is any alternative, after all. Starfire's blasts strike the vehicles and punch through their armor, igniting their fuel cells explosively. This helps to add more chaos and disruption amongst the HIVE ranks, gives them something to duck and avoid, and takes away some of their cover, offering a better opportunity for Kori and the military personnel to start picking them off, one by one. Nightwing will definitely find more than a few 'dance partners.' They're not bad, and with numbers on their side they are a challenge. But they aren't in his league and that much is obvious. Well equipped and well trained, they're still no match for the first ward of Batman. The crane, flipped over, tears apart as the arm's structure is not meant to take the weight of its base in that way, and metal rends and wrenches apart, then the pieces crash devastatingly back to earth. It's a mess, and that means it won't be doing its job in this heist anymore. Certainly, Wonder Girl has no desire to kill anyone - well, any regular sort of villian. There might me a few like Circe she'd like to rend halfway apart to Hades and back, but that's different. As the crane rends, and is upheaved, she moves to retrieve her rope, calling, "Cleanup time, crew. Let's help our friends get these guys under wraps, and call it a day." She sounds so confident. A quick smile is given towards her own mentor, "Let's go," she encourages Diana, and moves down to the other side of the 'fight', so that she & Diana can pincher-manuever the men against Koriand'r & Nightwing, and put an end to the assault for good. The chaos boded well for Kory and Nightwing, no doubt. When they were concerned with other things, they were not shooting at them, and Kory turns her course in to fly directly towards the group that she had been strafing, hoping to scoop up two soldiers by their collars and take them up into the air at a rapid speed. Perhaps that would help them to surrender, should she be able to do so? Nightwing actually disengages somewhat, moving to the fringes of the remaining goons to allow a more clear zone of attack for the others. "Hey guys, I don't know if you noticed, but your little heist has gone off the rails. Might want to start thinking about dropping those guns and picking up your cell phones to call your defense attorneys." He comments to those HIVE goons within earshot. "At least if you can get the call in before we finish clobbering you." Diana continues holding off the shots of the HIVE crew on the lover level as Wonder Girl readies herself and re-groups the troops for the final push. "You go ahead, help the others. I'll take care of this lot." And the Amazon sets about doing just that, streaking ahead to start pummeling goons and destroying their weapons. Isn't this fun? Kori does find her opening, and snatches up two of the remaining HIVE goons, taking them for a little tour of the local airspace, complete with screaming and struggling. Eventually, they drop their weapons and babble about surrender. One of them apparently was the idiot who successfully shot the Tamaranean princess, and he's wondering if she's holding a grudge. The HIVE goons try to run for the few vehicles they have still operational, clearly hoping to make good some manner of escape. But when they turn, they stop bringing fire on the military personnel, and they quickly take advantage of this to open concentrated fire on the men responsible for this day's disaster, pinning them down against the vehicles as they disable them, shooting out tires and windows until weapons clank to the ground and hands reach for the sky. Pounding a fist into one of the vechiles that's making its getaway, Casssie causes it to upend, tilt, and fall back with a deadend 'thud', as she looks around to round up the remaining scattered sabotuers. She seems - well, satisfied. "Good job," she calls, to everyone. Not just either Diana, or her teammates. But, the regular men and women, too. Of all the superheroes in the world, Kori was not the most merciful of the bunch. Nonetheless, she does find it in herself to smile a not-entirely-joyful smile in the direction of the particular goon, perhaps giving her flight an extra flip as she turns about towards the 'good guys'. They dropped their weapons, so she felt reasonably safe in dropping them in the midst of the military personnel. Breathing out a deep sigh, then, she flies over towards the heroes she recognized, alighting near Nightwing in particular. "I think that is all of them, yes?" she asks, her eyes then flickering to regard Diana. "Hey thanks. You were pretty awesome yourself." Nightwing comments towards Cassie over the comm, smiling as the HIVE goons begin their surrender. "We can stick around a few more minutes to make sure the troops have the mop-up completely in-hand, and make sure we don't need to medically evacuate anyone." Diana is the last to arrive at the pow-wow of the heroes, but she arrives bearing gifts, as she brings a string of HIVE agents wrapped up in her golden lasso. These she leaves with the military personnel as she then heads for the heroes with a broad smile. "Well done, everyone. Very well done. That does appear to be all of them." The military personnel radio in once the last of the HIVE jammers is taken offline, and soon enough choppers will be arriving with troops to secure the area. A Chinook will even be arriving to help carry off the convoy's precious cargo so that further problems can be avoided. A careful survey of the personnel will find several injured, some significantly. But with proper medical treatment, none will be lost this day. No need, thankfully, for the ultimate sacrifice for their country. And they all have great things to say about the heroes that came to their rescue. "Nightwing, Koriand'r, this is Wonder Woman." Cassie grins, as if either of the two didn't know who the woman was. "Diana, these are my friends." She gestures, clearly pleased that her two worlds could meet, like this. "Wonder Woman," Koriand'r says, a brilliant smile springing up unto her features, those green eyes of hers shining with something akin to mirth. "Have we not met before?" she asks, canting her head just to the side. It felt good to do some actual fighting again, although it was against normal people who really did not have a hope of winning - and it could be seen in Kory - there was a bit of a different colour to her orange skin, a flush of sorts, and the smile was coming all the easier to her lips. "Those were good orders, by the way, Wonder Girl," Kory then says, glancing towards Cassie. "Hard to believe we haven't been formally introduced until now, but it's a pleasure." Nightwing offers a hand to the Amazon princess, as well as a warm, congenial smile. He nods to Kory, and grins, "They were." He affirms. Diana offers her hand gladly to each of the heroes in turn. "A pleasure to be introduced, Nightwing. Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran." Being a princess herself, Diana understands the importance of titles and acknowledgement. "You did very well, Wonder Girl. You assessed the situation quickly, and the abilities of your allies, and devised a plan to deal with the dangers quickly and effectively." Yes, there is an almost maternal pride in her voice as she says these things. "I am very glad that you Titans were able to respond to this crisis." Grinning some, both at her teammates praise, and Diana's, Cassie offers a humbled, "Thank you." She nods, "We're glad too, Diana. And we're getting back a few old members, and we'll be happy to back up the Justice League anytime," she promises her mentor. "Thanks for coming along with us on this one." So few people remembered that Kory was actually a princess these days. That fact causes her smile to grow wider, crinkling her nose cutely. Bringing up a hand, she brushes her hair over her shoulder as Diana lavishes praise on her apprentice, taking a step back away from them both. "What she said." Nightwing replies after Cassie speaks, stepping over near Kory, looking somewhat amused about something, and reaching up to wipe a mock-tear from his masked eye, adding with a mock-sniffle, "They grow up so fast." "I could hardly send you off to face something like this and not come along if I were free, Cassie." Diana offers with a smile. If she had been busy or needed elsewhere? She most definitely could have sent the Titans - Cassie included - along on this mission and not looked back. But that does not mean she would not have worried for them. Still, amused, the Amazon princess smiles at Nightwing and winks. "They do indeed. Some are better at recognizing and appreciating that than others." That's the closest she'll come to 'judging' Batman and his relationship with the first Robin. She is careful like that. Elbowing Dick, not -hard-, but not too gently either, Cassie grins at Diana. "Well, the least we could do is take you back to the tower, Diana. Treat you to some food?" She offers cheerfully. "And maybe you could meet Gar if he's around. Or Raven." Kory laughs brightly at Nightwing's joke, turning her toothy smile in his direction. The laughter continues for a moment longer at the elbowing, Kori bringing up her hands to brush the dust off of them, by clapping them together, "If we do that - I hope that we have more in the fridge than the leftover pizza that Nightwing had brought?" Nightwing oofs, rubbing at his ribs and grateful for his protective costume, "What? I'm not allowed to be proud, too?" He teases. Hey, if Diana's going to be introduced to the Titans, she may as well see them as they are. "Well, we can always get more pizza. Or takeout. Or something equally unhealthy-but-convenient and tasty."r Amused and pleased, Diana does not beg off as some might expect, but smiles warmly and accepts graciously. "I would very much enjoy the chance to see the Tower and meet more of your teammates and friends, Cassie. That is if you don't mind one of the 'old guard' invading your space?" she teases a bit, good-naturedly. "Lead the way, Titans." The thought of unhealthy food does not seem to offend Diana, at least. She's no purist. "You're welcome over anytime, Diana. It's not like you're an old coot, like Batman," says Cassie, perhaps a bit purposefully, because Dick is here. And, well - everyone knows he ACTS like one. She grins, wide, and lifts off to hover a few feet off the ground, "Ready when you all are. And yes, there's pizza still." Kory inclines her head towards Diana, more of that brilliant smile on her lips. "My vote is for Chinese food," Koriand'r says, glancing towards Dick and giving him a wink, before she launches herself up into the air, turning about as she hovers there to look back down towards the others. "Do you have enough fuel for your... jetpack contraption, Nightwing?" "Hey, Batman might not be the most friendly guy around, but he's not an old coot." There's a mild touch of defensiveness there. Of course, Nightwing has a far deeper knowledge of -why- Bruce is the way he is. Still, the smile doesn't completely fade from Nightwing's face, and he glances up towards Kory and nods, "It's got enough to get back to the Tower, no problem. Thanks though. If you three want to go on ahead, I'll catch up." Because the pack doesn't fly as fast as they're capable of going.